lips, but it’s clear she understands me.
“Were you able to understand what they said today?” I ask Carmak.
“I think Fahd is right,” Carmak says. “They want to meet tomorrow.”
“Any reason they broke off the discussion today?” I ask. I’ve been thinking about it, and I haven’t come up with a reason.
“It sounded to me like they were confused,” Carmak says. “They kept asking your name.”
I feel my cheeks heat. “We didn’t use my name.”
“That’s the point, and the problem. If they know the word ‘Boss,’ then they’re not sure if the questions were asked and answered right. I think it’s probably best if Fahd is going to deal with them on a personal level. Unless you’re willing to use your real name . . .”
Carmak let her voice fade down, but I can hear the question in it. I don’t tell people my name, not because I’ve disavowed it, but because it doesn’t have much meaning for me. My parents gave me that name. More specifically, my father gave it to me. Before, I only told a select group of people my name. Now, I don’t bother.
“All right,” I say. “I’ll do my best not to confuse things.”
“I think you should keep getting information from all the equipment,” Stone says to me.
“I think you’re right,” I say. “Let’s hope they don’t take offense at that.”
“You’ll still bring your weapons in, right?” Bernadette Ivy asks. She opted not to return to the Business when no one else decided to go, but she still approaches everything around here with something akin to terror.
“We will,” I say, “but I don’t think the laser pistols will mean much. We saw a lot of people this afternoon, and to my eye, they all looked military. Which means that there are a lot more people on board that ship. We were outnumbered today in that room. We might be outnumbered in actuality by hundreds.”
Everyone stares at me, looking appalled. The Six, in particular, have stricken looks on their faces.
“What if they decide to take us hostage?” Quinte asks.
“We can’t come in and rescue you,” Roderick says. He looks worried.
“If they take us, they take us,” I say. I have to be honest about this. “We don’t have the numbers to fight back. The rest of you will have to monitor us. If we don’t come out of that room within the scheduled time, then you wait a few days. If you still haven’t heard from us, then you follow the emergency evacuation plan.”
Stone and Mikk look at each other. If something happens to me, there will be a little battle for control of this group.
The rest of the group looks alarmed. I’m going to quell this current panic now.
“I don’t think we have a lot to worry about on that front,” I say. “They could have taken us any time in the previous two missions. Instead, they came out and tried to initiate a dialogue. They’re as curious about us as we are about them.”
“I doubt that,” Kersting says softly.
“If they’re anything like the Dignity Vessels of legend,” I say, “they get to know people before they make decisions about them. They’re trying to get to know us now. We’re not going to make any threatening moves. I suspect we’ll be fine.”
No one speaks for a moment. Then DeVries looks at me.
“Don’t you think something is off here?” he asks softly.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“I mean, we’ve always heard about a fleet, but we’ve only found individual ships, and they’ve been old and ruined. Now we have an intact one. Do we even know this is the original crew? Or maybe these people are another group who have hijacked that ship, and don’t know how to work it.”
A chill runs down my back. I’ve been so excited to see a working Dignity Vessel that such a thought has never crossed my mind. And I’m usually enough of a pessimist to see problems like that.
“It’s a possibility,” I say. “But they can clearly operate in a stealth-tech field. So they have the genetic marker, at the very least.”
“Which means what, exactly?” Mikk asks. “Maybe they’re like your father, ruthless in picking their crew members, letting the ones without the marker die.”
“Maybe,” I say, “but I keep coming back to their military precision. Thieves usually don’t have that.”
“Neither do wreck divers,” says Tamaz with a grin.
He doesn’t know how accurate he is. I felt like a bumbling fool when I saw the care the ship’s crew used